UKIP pulls out of Zac Goldsmith's by-election to help him defeat the pro-Remain Liberal Democrats

Zac Goldsmith. Carl Court / Getty Zac Goldsmith's Richmond Park by-election is looking lonelier by the minute after UKIP revealed that they would not be fielding a candidate.

The Conservatives have previously said they won't run against their former MP — Goldsmith resigned earlier this week in protest over Heathrow expansion — and Labour MPs have also mooted withdrawing, although their party HQ disagrees.

And now Nigel Farage's party have said they will not seek the seat in a bid to prevent a victory for the pro-EU Lib Dems over the Eurosceptic Goldsmith.

UKIP gained just under 2,500 votes in the General Election in 2015, equivalent to roughly 4% of the vote in Richmond Park, coming in last place behind the Green Party, not least because the area strongly backs EU membership. It saw one of the strongest Remain votes in the country in the summer's referendum.

A UKIP spokesman said: "Recognising Zac as a principled man, who was fully committed to helping get Britain out of the European Union, UKIP Leader Nigel Farage, in conjunction with our National Executive Committee have agreed that we will not be fielding a candidate in the upcoming by-election for Richmond Park.

"The Liberal Democrats are committed to overturning the result of the 2016 Referendum and ignoring the will of the British people. This must not be allowed to happen."